Cozumel

The following day, we arrived in Cozumel with a plan to head to the beach and celebrate the birthdays and anniversary! However...Karl thwarted us and threatened rain the entire day. So.......we walked around town for a little while, I bought some Mexican vanilla and went on a mad hunt for almond tequila and then we headed to the Three Amigos for some drinks. And drink we did. At the Three Amigos there was a balloon man, you know, one that creates balloon shapes! He made us all hats (funny hats for some) which made for some excellent pictures. After the drinking, we headed back to the boat for our "beach party" on deck in the pool, dinner, comedians and the boat headed off to Roatan!

Angie, Janice and I in our hats!

Yes they are doing what you think they are doing...

That's dad, but he's kind of hidden

That's mom back there, but you can only see her hat. The rest of her is hidden by Sarah's hat!

Dad (wearing the funny shirt that Angie bought him) and Natasa (our awesome head waiter!)

a GIANT chair

with a GIANT table
Monkey see, monkey do ;)

Grand Cayman

Grand Cayman was our first stop and no one had any planned excursions for the port. We decided to wander around the port town, see what was around and collect all of the fun free stuff that they give away to cruisers. Diamonds International has a charm bracelet that they gives to cruisers and then you can collect a new charm in every port and at all of the Diamonds International stores. We got lots of charms, my favorite was the flip flop :) We also discovered a new store called Effy (spelling may or may not be correct) that was giving away free pendants. Each store gave away a different color, we got red, blue and clear. So much fun. Then we hit up Margaritaville for some food, drinks and fun! It rained off and on most of the day, but we managed to stay mostly dry. Then back on the boat as we head off to Cozumel!

Really no explanation needed...

Apparently I am really excited about Dunkin Donut man!Amy stuck with tradition, but Angie got a pina colada...at Margaritaville...really...blasphemy

Life Onboard

We had two full days at sea and we didn everything from afternoon tea to a "create your own towel animal" class. Really, the pictures tell the story better than I ever could :)

Afternoon tea - pinkies up!

Angie and I with snacks!

Mom, Dad and I at the first formal night

Angie and I at the comedian - Eryx too!

Painted toes! Guess who!

Janice and I at dinner

Actually, this next picture deserves a story. We were all sitting in the Folies lounge (big lounge where all of the shows are performed) and one of the Carnival Legend Entertainment Crew members got on stage and asked for volunteers. Angie volunteered. As I was cheering for Angie (because she rocks,) apparently I volunteered as well. So, there we were, six women standing on stage with everyone in the audience staring at us. And the game? We all had to make paper airplanes and the one that flew the farthest won. The big prize was a bottle of champagne, a medal and a 14 carat gold plastic ship on a stick (a very coveted prize for some.) We had one minute to create our plane. This was plenty of time for me, I made my plane exactly as my dad taught me many many years ago (go dad!) After our minute was up, we took turns throwing our planes into the audience. Well, lets just say, apparently I was the only one who knew how to create a paper airplane and thus I was the winner! I hopped off of the stage and walked up to my dad and said "look, you taught me a useful skill!" to which he replied something like "that's what happens when you listen to me." Here is a picture of me with all of my prizes (and some extra arms...thanks for helping me show off my prizes James!!) Oh yea, and my uber awesome paper airplane is also in the picture (courtesy of Val's arm.)

Me with one of my towel animal creations

Angie with her swan!

Matching Shirts

One of the first things that you do when boarding the cruise is to take a "welcome aboard" picture with you entire party. Well...we definitely planned for this, matching t-shirts and everything! James designed our awesome Mayan Ruins t-shirt and somehow we convinced everyone to buy it and wear it onto the boat. The professional "welcome aboard" pictures turned out pretty decent, as well as all the ones we took :)

Team Jessica at the hotel

The saddest guy to ever be between two women...

Eating lunch on the Lido Deck

James P, Val and I at the lifeboat drill

Val, Sarah and I at the Lifeboat drill

Group at the Sail Away party

Most of us hiding from the rain!

Sail Away drinks = tradition

Sa-rah and Jarrett

Dinner Night One

Cruise!!!!

To celebrate the 30th birthday of Val and Sarah, the 40th birthday of Jonathan and the 30th anniversary of my parents, we decided to go on a cruise! The cruise left from Tampa, FL and sailed to Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands; Cozumel, Mexico; Roatan, Honduas; and Belize. We set sail upon the Carnival Legend for a week of friends, good food and hiding from work!

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Universal Studios Orlando recently opened possibly the coolest thing ever, an entire zone dedicated to HARRY POTTER! Ok fine, maybe it isn't the coolest thing ever, but it is still pretty awesome! On our way to Tampa for the cruise (or maybe slightly out of our way), we decided to spend some time at Universal to check out Harry Potter World. It did not disappoint! They have three big rides, many stores and lots of tasty food. You can send a postcard stamped from Hogsmeade (check), purchase a magic wand that chooses you (line way way too long), drink Butterbeer (check), tour Hogwarts on a cart that Hermione casts a magic spell on (check), race a dragon on the Dragon Challenge (check), buy chocolate frogs (check), eat Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans (check and gross), taste other Hogwarts specialties like pumpkin juice and treacle tart (sadly, this contained gluten), and, my personal favorite, explore the castle while you wait in line for rides. We saw Dumbledore's office (complete with an LCD Dumbledore), the Fat Lady guarding the Gryffindor common room, a wizard newspaper and the room with pictures of the previous headmasters. If you a Harry Potter fan, this is definitely something to see (don't mind the cost, it was totally worth it.) And now for some pictures...

The castle from afar

The Hogwarts Castle
Luke's Butt and Hogsmeade

A Closer View at the Castle

Angie casting evil magic on one of the Universal employees

Eryx, Angie, Morgan and I in front of the Hogwarts Express

Morgan, Luke, Angie, Eryx, Amy and I in line

My parents were also with us at Harry Potter World, but they were conveniently hiding from the camera. :)